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The flight of the Texas fireflies

In a state with more than its share of biting, stinging, and creeping and crawling insects and arachnids with little or no charm to any but their own species, fireflies (or lightning bugs as they are variously known here) have long enjoyed a special place in our hearts, that rarest of varmints—a charismatic insect.

To those of us who grew up in suburbia or out in the country in recent decades (or those who grew up in big cities long ago), they remind us of carefree evenings in the spring, twinkling original-recipe-flavored-Gatorade-yellow-green galaxies wafting on warm breezes over grassy lawns or scraggly brush.

"All my life I have drawn sustenance from the rivers and from the hills of my native state... I want no less for all the children of America than what I was privileged to have as a boy."-Lyndon B. Johnson